2021 New Mexico Statutes
Article 4 - Dissolution of Marriage
Section 40-4-11.4 - Modification of child support orders; exchange of financial information.

A. A court may modify a child support obligation upon a showing of material and substantial changes in circumstances subsequent to the adjudication of the pre-existing order, including the health care needs of a child, to include the availability of health care coverage. There shall be a presumption of material and substantial changes in circumstances if application of the child support guidelines in Section 40-4-11.1 NMSA 1978 would result in a deviation upward or downward of more than twenty percent of the existing child support obligation and the petition for modification is filed more than one year after the filing of the pre-existing order.
B. All child support orders shall contain a provision for the annual exchange of financial information by the obligor and obligee upon a written request by either party. The financial information to be furnished shall include:
(1) federal and state tax returns, including all schedules, for the year preceding the request;
(2) W-2 statements for the year preceding the request;
(3) Internal Revenue Service Form 1099s for the year preceding the request;
(4) work-related daycare statements for the year preceding the request;
(5) dependent medical insurance premiums for the year preceding the request; and
(6) wage and payroll statements for four months preceding the request.
For the purposes of this subsection, the wages of a subsequent spouse may be omitted from the financial information provided by either the obligor or the obligee.
C. The requirement to provide for the child's health care needs in the order, through insurance or other means, shall be a basis to initiate an adjustment of an order, regardless of whether an adjustment in the amount of child support is necessary.
History: Laws 1990, ch. 58, § 1; 1991, ch. 206, § 2; 2021, ch. 20, § 4.
The 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, provided that the health care needs of a minor child are an adequate basis for modification of a child support order; in Subsection A, after "pre-existing order", added "including the health care needs of a child, to include the availability of health care coverage"; and added Subsection C.
The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, rewrote this section to the extent that a detailed comparison would be impracticable.
Cases in which there is a presumption of material and substantial changes in circumstances. — In cases in which application of the parties' updated financial information to the child support guidelines results in a deviation upward or downward of more than twenty percent of the existing child support obligation, the party seeking modification is entitled to a rebuttable presumption of material and substantial changes in circumstances justifying a modification. Jury v. Jury, 2017-NMCA-036.
Where petitioner appealed the district court's denial of her motion to modify a 2010 child support decree, claiming that the district court's ruling resulted from its erroneous determination of the parties' gross monthly incomes and, by extension, child support obligations, reversal and remand for recalculation of the parties' gross monthly incomes was necessary to the extent that the district court improperly deviated from the child support guidelines in calculating the parties' gross monthly incomes and failed to specify the reasons for its decision in deviating from the child support guidelines, because the miscalculation potentially deprived petitioner of the presumption of material and substantial changes in circumstances. Jury v. Jury, 2017-NMCA-036.
Reduction of child support payments upon child reaching majority age. — When a prior decree directs that a noncustodial parent make lump-sum, periodic child support payments for two or more children, and one of the children subsequently reaches the age of majority, the best procedure for a noncustodial parent who seeks a reduction in child support is to obtain a stipulated order authorizing such modification, or alternatively to request a hearing on the request for reduction. McCurry v. McCurry, 1994-NMCA-047, 117 N.M. 564, 874 P.2d 25.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Death of obligor parent as affecting decree for support of child, 14 A.L.R.5th 557.
Decrease in income of obligor spouse following voluntary termination of employment as basis for modification of child support award, 39 A.L.R.5th 1.